Patriots notebook: Do-it-all McCuller faces long odds

FOXBORO — The name of Taylor McCuller did not appear on the stat sheet following last Thursday night's Patriots game.

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By Glen Farley

southcoasttoday.com

By Glen Farley

Posted Aug. 12, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Glen Farley

Posted Aug. 12, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

FOXBORO — The name of Taylor McCuller did not appear on the stat sheet following last Thursday night's Patriots game.

That's odd because McCuller appeared to be everywhere else last Thursday night.

The rookie free agent lined up on offense (fullback), defense (linebacker) and special teams during the Patriots' 23-6 preseason-opening loss to the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field.

"He's a good kid. He works hard," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Monday. "He's pretty smart, got to be able to handle multiple responsibilities plus the kicking game."

Still, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound McCuller — a linebacker by trade — remains a long shot.

"(He's) got a long way to go," Belichick admitted. "(He's) not really very experienced on either side of the ball or special teams and is making a big jump from where he was playing last year (to) where he's playing now. So it's a big mountain to climb for him, but he comes in here, works hard every day.

"He's a tough kid. He's diligent. He pays attention. He's got a lot to learn, a lot to do, so we'll see how it goes. He's working at it and getting better."

McCuller was at West Texas A&M last year, capping off a career that included a school-record for tackles in a single season with 164 as a junior in 2012.

After redshirting as a freshman in 2008, McCuller was given a medical redshirt in 2009 when he suffered a season-ending knee injury during the first week of drills.

McCuller concluded his college career with 306 tackles, 5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and six passes defensed.

On the day his team was boarding a plane for New England for a couple days of joint practices and Friday night's preseason game at Gillette Stadium, the website NJ.com reported that Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams "kept it short with the media."

Williams may have been brief with the media, but he wasn't backing down from comments he made earlier, calling the Patriots "cheaters" and pointing out that the team hasn't won a Super Bowl since the Spygate incident of 2007.

"I said what I said last week," said Williams. "The day is here." Williams said he wasn't concerned about the reaction he might get from Patriots fans.

"I don't care. I don't care," he said. "I play this game to play it well, and at the end of the day, if I'm booed by the fans it ain't the first thing and it ain't the worst thing I've heard from anybody."

Williams got tossed out of one of the teams' joint practices in Philly last year after getting into a fight with Patriots wide receiver Aaron Dobson.

Belichick quickly dismissed a question about Williams' comments, saying: "You should talk to him about it."

Guard Logan Mankins wasn't so dismissive.

"I don't even know what he was saying," said Mankins. "I'm sure it wasn't the smartest thing in the world he said so I'm not worried about it."